Missing Pieces
by greengirlblue
Summary: Of sunlight filling an empty room, and puzzle pieces spread over the table. A short story told from Yuki's point of view, starring Tohru, Kyo, Uotani, Hanajima and 100 percent real watermelon. Complete.


Missing Pieces  
a story by aspiring author greengirlblue  
based on Natsuki Takaya-sensei's _Fruits Basket_  
(which is why you found this story on a fanfiction website  
in the "Fruits Basket" section, you lucky thing)

Yuki peered outside from the living room, his hand poised over the opened screen door as sunlight flooded into the room, filling up on the floor and pressing against the walls behind him. Yuki himself stood silhouetted in the doorway for another minute, blinking owlishly at the late morning sky above the trees, before remembering, again, what he was doing. With the grace of a teenager who had woken up in the morning instead of the afternoon, he turned and shuffled barefooted to the hallway, following his plan to open the rest of the doors and windows of Shigure's house in hopes to catch some semblance of a cool breeze in the otherwise sweltering air.

Yuki had been surpised to wake up to an empty house. Well, not entirely surprised, he thought. Tohru had said something about wanting to see Hana off at the airport, and Shigure had been avoicding his editor sporadically all month by hiding out at Ayame's shop. As for Kyo, lately he'd been apt to disappear early in the morning and show up later on the roof when the sun started fading into the horizon. Even so, Yuki figured that it was okay to feel slightly alarmed and, admittedly, slightly hurt that he'd waken up to a house that was completely empty.

In the entrance hall, the last screen door hitched as Yuki pulled it open. It wasn't as hot in here than the rest of the house, as last night's shadows hadn't completely receded yet. Coolness radiated from the hardwood floor, rising up through Yuki's feet and sending chills through the rest of his body.

Not even a year left, Yuki suddenly found himself thinking, again, the hundredth time. There isn't even a year left before we go back.

Yuki had never wandered off like Kyo had, not physically anyway. He was more likely to find solace in keeping perfectly still and to let his thoughts move aimlessly through his mind. Yuki was completely aware that, like Kyo's disappearing acts, he himself was spending more and more time away from home.

Back to the main house, his mind repeated. Back to...

Yuki abruptly pushed himself away from the door. He turned, face pale, and headed back to the living room.

He sat down at the table, tempted to turn on the TV for the noise. Instead, he found himself watching the sharp edges of shadows recede slowly into the house, his mind distant as a faint breeze propelled in a handful of scorched leaves from outside.

---- --- -- -

Yesterday, Tohru had spent the morning with Hana and Uo before inviting them over.

"Hawaii," Hana replied coolly to a question posed by Yuki, twisting her fingers through Tohru's hair. "I'm looking forward to spending time at the beach."

Across the living room, Kyo choked on a glass of milk.

"At the beach?" Yuki echoed faintly. "Is... is that so?"

Yuki couldn't help but stare at Hana as she continued to braid Tohru's hair. She was wearing a dress that had a lot of ruffles and lace and embroidered flowers around the bodice and skirt (being a brother to Ayame, Yuki had learned a little fashion lingo) and was completely black. It didn't seem to matter to Hana that it the sun was blazing outside or that the shade inside wasn't much better.

"You all right, Oranges?" Uo asked, watching Kyo with an expression that looked both amused and mildly concerned. She was sitting on the couch next to Hana, and Tohru was sitting on the floor with her back against Hana's knees. Yuki, who had been studying a list of the new student senate when the three girls had come in, was still sitting at the coffee table.

Kyo, who was standing in the doorway of the living room, nodded his head vigorously, still coughing. Uo rolled her eyes at him before turning to Yuki.

"Hana's family won a week-long vacation from a magazine contest, though if all goes well, they might be able to stay there the entire summer," Uo elaborated. Kyo staggered out of the living room, maybe to get a glass of water, and maybe a towel too, since he'd dropped his cup.

"What do you mean, 'if all goes—'" Yuki began, but he stopped when he felt a sharp snap of static electricity jump through his hand. That was... odd.

"We went swimsuit shopping after the movie," Tohru said, before Yuki had time to ponder that anymore.

"It's too bad they didn't have the color she wanted, though," Uo added sympathetically.

"Yes, I do prefer black," Hana said. Then, as an afterthought, she added, "But pink isn't so bad."

"Pink?" The word came out on a high note Yuki didn't think was possible from his own throat.

"I thought it was blue," Tohru said, looking a little confused.

"It is," Hana said impassively. "I was joking."

She glanced up at Yuki, a small smile flickering across her face before she tied off the end of Tohru's hair.

"Finished," she said, draping the braid over Tohru's shoulder.

"I'll go get something to eat now," Tohru said brightly, jumping to her feet.

"It's too hot in here," Uo complained, standing up as Tohru did. "We'll be out on the porch when you come back, okay?"

---- --- -- -

It was raining outside, and had been since the late afternoon. It was strange, Yuki thought, sprawled out on his bed with a book, because the morning had been so bright and hot. Then the temperature had suddenly dropped, and within the hour, the sky had grown dark with heavy black rain clouds, casting the entire house in shadow. After closing all the windows and screens downstairs, Yuki had retreated to his room to put on a sweater. His room glowed yellow from his bedside lamp.

"Ah… Yuki-kun?"

Yuki glanced up from his book.

Tohru was standing in the doorway to his room holding a jigsaw puzzle box with both hands up to her chin as if she were trying, rather unsuccessfully, to hide behind it.

Yuki wasn't exactly sure what person had given him that puzzle, or when he'd received it, or why. Actually, he wasn't entirely convinced that it really belonged to him at all, but a week ago, Tohru had found it at the bottom of his sock drawer while doing laundry. Giving the puzzle to Tohru had been easy not only because Yuki himself didn't want it, but because Tohru had asked, and it was so rare that she asked for anything.

"Would you," she began shyly, "would you like to help me with this puzzle?"

"Of course," Yuki replied, putting his book down on the bed, not realizing that his smile was a smaller, more hesitant version of Tohru's but just as sincere.

The pieces were spread out on the table in the living room while Yuki and Tohru talked easily about the school senate and summer vacation and a movie on TV they'd both watched a few days ago. Sometimes their fingers lingered too long over the same puzzle piece, barely touching, before both hands jerked back and quick embarrassed apologies fell from their lips.

The front door slammed, announcing Kyo's entrance, and both Yuki and Tohru turned their heads towards the noise. Two thuds, that would be Kyo kicking off his shoes, and heavy footsteps through the hallway. Kyo slouched into the living room with his jacket hanging from one arm, water coming off in streams and rapid-fire drops that formed a small creek around his feet. It was almost comic, in a way. Kyo must have predicted the sudden downpour earlier, because why else would he be wearing a jacket?

Kyo stopped short when he saw both Yuki and Tohru staring at him. He stared back at Tohru for a few moments, water continuing to drip off every part of him and hitting the floor with a tat tat tat, before he turned and scowled at Yuki.

"What are you looking at?" he grumbled, tugging his jacket off completely and tossing it onto the sofa. The sofa was a brand new asset of the living room, a donation from Ayame who needed a new one for his shop. When Kyo wasn't gone or just moping on the roof, he could usually be found curled up on the left cushion for a quick nap, especially in weather like this.

"For a moment there, I though you were going to say something intelligent," Yuki said. "My mistake."

"We were working on a puzzle," Tohru said quickly before Kyo could work out what Yuki had just said. "Would you like to help us?"

Kyo continued to glare at Yuki. After another moment, though, he shrugged and tore his gaze away and stepped around the couch towards the table.

"Yeah, sure," he said, dropping himself in front of the table, sitting on the side right of Tohru and left of Yuki. "It's not like I've got anything better to do."

The words sounded heavy in the rain, in Kyo's tired voice, but the meaning was softened in the faint trace of a smile he offered Tohru. Tohru smiled back, held it for a second, and then returned to her patch of fitted puzzle pieces. Kyo continued to watch her for a moment longer before he let out a silent breath of air that deflated his shoulders. He leaned his elbows on the table and his forehead in his hands, his fingers pushing back clumps of soaked orange hair to reveal an uncharacteristically grim profile.

Not even a year left...

Yuki felt his eyes narrow, the muscles in his face tightening into a small scowl, and looked away.

---- --- -- -

Tohru joined Uo, Hana and Yuki on the side porch a few minutes later with a slightly embarrassed expression. Kyo followed immediately afterwards with a large plate in his arms, his lips moving in quiet grumbling.

"Trying to carry it herself..." was the only part Yuki caught before Kyo set the plate down unceremoniously on the floorboards.

When Uo saw what was in the plate, her visible eyebrow shot up to her hairline.

"Watermelon?" she asked, her lips pulled back into a wide grin. "This is awesome."

Hana was already reaching out to take a slice. She handed one over to Uo, whose grin, if possible, grew wider, and one to Tohru before getting one for herself.

"It wasn't too expensive, I hope?" she asked before daintily biting into her slice.

"Actually..." Tohru hedged, casting a quick glance at Yuki. Yuki dropped his head into a short nod. "We grew it in the garden," she finished.

Uo said something, but Yuki wasn't exactly sure what it was since it came out as. "Ven 'amy oo ahv mohr?"

"I'm sorry, what?" Yuki asked. He reached out a hand towards the plate, but he was intercepted by Kyo's. They glared at each other for a split second, then jerked their hands back and looked away from each other.

"This is delicious," Hana said to Tohru.

Uo swallowed.

"Never mind," Uo said, waving her free hand in the air. She spit out a seed over her shoulder into the garden.

Kyo looked horrorstruck.

"That's disgusting!" he cried, pointing a finger at Uo.

"What?" Uo asked, nonplussed.

"That!" Kyo exclaimed, shaking his finger for emphasis. "Spitting the seeds out. It's--"

At that exact moment, Tohru spit out a seed, too.

Kyo's mouth dropped open. Yuki took the opportunity to make a grab for the watermelon. Hana was right; it was delicious.

Uo frowned at Kyo.

"Well, yeah. What else are you supposed to do with them?" she asked.

"Swallow them!" Kyo said, as if stating the obvious.

Yuki seriously considered spitting a seed at Kyo's face, but that was something only Haru or Momiji or maybe Shigure would actually do, so he spit it out into the garden instead.

"Swallow them?" Uo asked incredulously. "What's wrong with you. _That's_ disgusting."

"My mom used to say that if you swallowed the seeds, a watermelon would grow inside your stomach," Tohru said.

Uo laughed.

"That's right. I remember."

"Although," Hana added quietly, I think you actually believed her, Tohru."

Tohru blushed and ducked her head.

"I was only in middle school," she said, biting into the watermelon again.

"Yeah, only," Uo teased, but without any malice. She fanned out her fingers and plopped her hand on Tohru's head. Tohru grinned sheepishly.

"Still, I must admit I was pretty impressed," Uo continued, turning her attention to Yuki. "This girl was a force to be reckoned with in spitting contests. She even beat Kyoko sometimes."

"Really?" Yuki asked, smiling at Tohru.

"What kind of contest?" Kyo asked.

Five minutes later, the group was standing lined up on the edge of the porch, their toes curled over the end.

"The rules are pretty straightforward," Uo began at the head of the line. "Just spit the seed out as far as you can. Ready?"

"This is still disgusting," Kyo mumbled next to her. Hana made a noise of ascent, though whether it was to his comment or Uo's question, no one would ever know. Tohru stood next to Hana with her hands at her sides, completely unabashed, while Yuki, standing at the very end, wondered how he'd let himself get talked into this.

Uo held her hand up above her head and sliced down the air with it.

"Go!"

---- --- -- -

Yuki didn't realize he'd been dozing off until something woke him. He blinked, slowly, and raised his head from his arms. It took a minute to recognize the orange blob in front of his face as Kyo's head, and another to remember that he'd fallen asleep on the puzzle earlier that evening.

The telephone rang again, and Yuki knew that it had been the first ring that had punctured his sleep.

There was movement behind him, and Yuki turned to see Tohru lean forward on the couch.

"Go back to sleep," Shigure said quietly from beside her, folding up his newspaper in half. For once, Tohru didn't protest, and she curled up into a ball on the sofa, using the armrest as a pillow as Shigure stood.

The telephone rang again.

Kyo lifted his head from the table, too, and Yuki could see through the corner of his vision that Kyo had a puzzle piece stuck to his forehead.

"What's going on?" Kyo croaked.

"Telephone," Shigure replied, tossing the paper down on the sofa and squeezing past Tohru's knees and Yuki's back.

Kyo twisted his body around to look behind him at the digital clock on the DVD player.

"It's almost one in the morning," he said grumpily, turning back around and resting his head back in his arms.

"I noticed," Shigure grinned.

The third ring died as Shigure picked up the receiver.

The faint sound of a voice on the other end.

"Hatori?" Shigure asked, sounding surprised but pleased.

Yuki turned back to the table and stared down at the pieces, his mind languidly swimming through different levels of thought. One was still caught up in the fuzziness of whatever it was he'd been dreaming, another idly contemplating where the last edge piece might be, and the last wondering why Hatori was calling so late. Yuki could also feel vague strands of concern filter in through all the layers, but he couldn't figure out where it was coming from.

"No, actually, they're all here with me," Shigure said in a hushed tone.

Yuki's eyes focused briefly on a piece he hadn't noticed before, and he stretched out his hand to it.

"Yes, they're all awake. Well, Tohru is fading fast, and Kyo looks like he'll hurt somebody if he doesn't go to bed soon."

The piece fit.

Shigure chuckled.

"I couldn't go to bed alone," he continued in a low, husky voice.

And then he went quiet for a moment, and Yuki turned his head just in time to see Shigure shift to face the wall.

"So why are you calling so late, anyway?"

On the couch, Tohru opened her eyes. She and Yuki stared at each other for one heartbeat before they both looked at Kyo. Kyo, on his part, still had his head in his arms, but the line in his shoulder had tensed, and it was obvious that he too had heard the sudden change in Shigure's voice.

The silence in the room felt suddenly sharp, and Yuki could feel it press against his chest.

"I see," Shigure said, unaware of three pairs of eyes darting to hit the back of his head. Kyo's head was up now.

Shigure was completely still for a full minute before turning slightly, his profile obscured by the hand holding the phone.

"Yes," Shigure agreed, and Yuki remembered to breathe out again. "Yes, that's probably the best way."

Shigure removed the phone from his ear and held it towards Yuki. His lips were pulled back into a thin smile, but his eyes were narrowed.

"It's Hatori," he said too loudly, and all three teenagers visibly winced. He dropped his voice and continued. "He wants to talk to you."

Now all eyes were on Yuki. After the smallest hesitation, he placed a hand on the table and used it to push himself up. Blood poured back into his legs, sending needles of pain through his muscles as he walked unevenly towards Shigure's outstretched hand.

"Hatori?" Yuki asked quietly into the receiver, his eyes fixed on his feet as he avoided everyone else's gaze.

"Yuki," Hatori said, his voice sounding faraway and indistinct on the phone.

It must still be raining, Yuki thought absently. Maybe there was a thunderstorm where Hatori was, that created this static.

"You're calling very late," Yuki heard himself say, despite his wandering mind.

"Kyo-kun, Tohru-kun, come with me," Shigure said, motioning towards the kitchen with his hand as he moved past Yuki. Yuki watched them leave, Tohru throwing worried glances over her shoulder every few steps, and even Kyo gave him a look that was almost anxious before disappearing behind the doorway.

"It's Akito," Hatori said abruptly, and Yuki flinched, his eyes darting back to his feet.

Only a year left. It was always there, hovering in the future, getting closer. And Akito wouldn't let him forget.

---- --- -- -

"What do you mean you won?" Uo cried irritably, stomping her foot down on the floor. "You totally cheated! You stepped off the porch!"

"Yeah, because you pushed me!" Kyo snapped, jumping back onto the porch from the garden so he could glare at Uo eye to eye.

"I think I swallowed mine," Hana said to no one in particular, and she wandered off towards the plate. "Is it all right with everyone if I take the last slice?"

"I wasn't watching," Tohru said apologetically. "I think mine went about five feet, though."

"No, that was mine," Yuki corrected her. "Yours went into the bushes."

"Ah," Tohru said, surprised, smiling. "I guess I won."


End file.
